Indiana basketball fans are hurt and they should be. The emotions are wide ranging: There is anger. There is disgust. And there’s sadness.

Two days out from the exhibition opener at Assembly Hall, the last 72 hours have been the most tumultuous of the Tom Crean era in Bloomington.

Sophomore Devin Davis should be preparing to show off the game he worked so hard in the offseason to improve. Instead, he remains in IU Health Bloomington Hospital with a serious head injury after a senseless accident that should have never happened.

His teammate, freshman Emmitt Holt, will sit out four games for his involvement in that accident and is unquestionably dealing with emotions stemming from it that make basketball seem unimportant.

Sophomores Stanford Robinson and Troy Williams will also sit four games, two exhibitions and two regular season contests, for failed drug tests. It’s totally fair to question if those suspensions were harsh enough, but both players must accept the punishment that comes from their selfish actions.

And then there’s Crean, who is ultimately the one responsible for the program as its leader and head coach. While it is true that Crean can’t control the behavior of the young men who he has recruited to be a part of his program, he’s the one who ultimately has to be responsible for it. He’s being questioned from all angles right now and many of those inquiries are totally legitimate.

Start with the punishment for last spring’s arrest of Hanner Mosquera-Perea, who sat for just two games after running a vehicle into a curb while intoxicated. Was he punished severely enough by only sitting two games? Some questioned whether he was at the time, but given that it was the first player arrest since Crean took over in the spring of 2008, many were willing to forget and move on.

But after the last three days, no one is forgetting anything that’s happened in the last nine months of IU basketball. And when looked at in composite, the view is not pretty.

The questions that need to be answered by those in charge at Indiana is why this has become a pattern and what needs to be done to correct it. Those answers are unclear at this point, but the sooner they are addressed, the better.

The issues clearly extend beyond basketball and truly hit home for many early Saturday morning when it was announced that Davis was in serious condition. Most of what happened last spring had been forgiven up to that point, but that went out the window with what took place in the early morning hours on Saturday.

Many will say that college kids will be college kids, but being a basketball player at IU comes with the responsibility to act as a model citizen and realize the privilege of receiving a free education while simultaneously getting the opportunity to play in front of the country’s best fans.

It is not to be taken lightly nor with any sense of entitlement.

The players that came before the current roster clearly understood that responsibility, which is a major reason that Crean was able to lead the program out of an abyss and back to national prominence. There are players on the roster now who understand that, but either aren’t in a position to lead just yet or haven’t chosen to do so.

Perhaps these last 72 hours can serve as a wakeup call or rallying point that team success requires individual accountability and respect for your teammates. A line in the sand must be drawn.

Ultimately, the season will go on, the games will be played and fans will support the name on the front of the jersey as they always have, even at the lowest of points.

But make no mistake about it: Indiana fans are hurt. As they should be.

The point is “protect the kids” (even from themselves and their friends), don’t “get rid of the kids”!

calbert40

I’m not suggesting that Crean is without fault. However, reading some of the comments here today is rough. Personal responsibility seems to be a thing of the past.

Yes, Crean should be held accountable for what he has done to curtail these situations. I was pretty hard on him last year when he gave HMP a 2 game slap on the wrist for his OWI. I still think that was a huge misstep on Crean’s part. However, I don’t think these issues are Crean’s fault. It is just important that he handles these situations properly from here on out.

IUBizmark

I blame Yogi and HMP for this. They are the leaders and they dictate the culture. Crean isn’t a 24/7 nanny. He can only do so much hand holding and after that it’s up to the team leaders to let others know they need to fall in and get with the program’s values.
With all that being said, it’s starting to become clearer what all the problems were about last year and what’s with all the transfers. JH and AE were clearly part of the problem and had to go. Vonleh didn’t want to be a part of the culture and bolted as well. If the culture had been more positive, maybe he stays. Conjecture, yes.
Going back even further, I’d say that having Remy Abell around would’ve been helpful last season.
It’s a tremendous wasted opportunity.

b_side

Would assume his suspension will be handed out once he’s cleared to play. They aren’t going to suspend him for games while he’s recovering.

Denise Buchman Einecker

Thank you for this post. I could not have said it better. I am tired of everyone making Emmitt the culprit. Devin truly owes Emmitt an apology! Devin needs to thank God his foolishness did not leave him lame. Thank you again for this post. I believe our boys will play with heart and fire this season!

Oregoniu

CTC needs to change his style of coaching in my opinion. He needs to take a seat, stop directing every player’s moves, like I did when I coached 5th grade AAU, I caught hell for that approach back then from all sides! He needs to be more reflective and not reactive in his approcah. He needs to give his players some space and freedom to execute the game plan without micro-managing every move and making manic substitutions like many have been saying on hear for years. Let the players play through their mistakes. Trust the guys on the court and players may exhibit a little more self control off the court. But what do I know, nothing really. CTC good luck in turning this program around, Go Hoosiers!! I believe change needs to start with Tom.

Oregoniu

And by all means learn you staff’s names and treat all with a little respect including the student managers!!

hoosiersfan33

We all know this is just pathetic. And whoever you blame is up to you. But bottom line is this team can battle through this and play well enough to make everyone forget about this. Or, they can let these incidents get the best of them and under-perform, making these incidents the story of the season. I don’t know which way it’s going to go, but it’s going to go one way or the other.

cooper

“which is a major reason that Crean was able to lead the program out of an abyss and back to national prominence.

We may have poked our heads out of the abyss for a moment but it’s a lot more like Davis run in 2002 than a return to prominence.

For Crean, he has to win. If he does all will be swept under the rug. If he doesn’t win, find someone who does and soon. I’m alright with a few off field problems every once in awhile for victories. Being bad and having them doesn’t cut it.

Ole Man

Honestly, Loop? This is nothing but pure spam. A cut n paste from another blog yesterday.

Ole Man

I would think that he is out for all of pre-season, if not more. I doubt that he will serve a “game suspension”. I think that his injury and time missed will be most of his punishment.
I would almost count on some “internal punishment” that isn’t published.

Dave Carnes

IU basketball is more inportant to me then rewarding such ungratfull behavior.Stan has to go if there will ever be any respect for the coaches athority.

SCHoosier

Stan has disrespected his coach, school and team mates. IMO he doesn’t deserve a hell of a lot of anything right now except more than what he actually got. And I am/was a Stan fan.

IUfanforever

Alex….you summed up exactly how I feel…your words are stated much more adequately then I could express. Very well put!

SCHoosier

U REALLY don’t get it do you? Its not about a kid smoking weed..its about a kid getting $50k plus a year education ..best medical care available..national exposure..a chance to earn a living playing the game he loves and the privilege of wearing the candy stripes. Stan is so smart he appears willing to piss that all away to get high…and in the process totally disrespects the people trying to help him achieve his life’s goals. Dear god he’s got to be smarter than that!

Brian Goodman

I have a huge problem with people calling for stan’s dismissal. The things he’s done are dumb but forgivable college kid mistakes: using a fake at sports (just a heads up half the campus with fakes do this) and failing drug tests. But getting behind the wheel of a car so drunk youre driving the wrong way on a one way and hitting the curb, that puts your own life and others’ lives in danger. By calling for Stan’s head it almost downplays Hanner’s incident and even the Devin/Emmit situation.

ForeverIU

“hell of a lot of anything” … I’m tired of this simplistic macho hot air morality … sorry, no other way for me to express it right now.

I can see how you feel hurt. But as I sit here reading all of this, my feelings are more of disappointment. Partially in Crean, but more so on the guys that are doing these things.. especially with the one who has now done it for a second time. I believe Crean was trying to be fair with the guys who were involved.. and they’ve really let him down big time. I just really hope and pray that they take heed, that they are getting pretty much at the end of their collective ‘ropes’.. I just hope this is the end of this type of behavior. For me, it’s just a huge feeling of disappointment,

Oh really? I lived in South Bend for nearly all but the past twenty years.. So I guess the time the Browners and three other guys (prominent stars on the football team), all ‘ganged’ that girl (a student by the way), and got caught? As I recall, they were booted for the rest of the season (one year), but were in fact allowed to return the next year.. which most of them did? Somehow I would consider that quite a bit more serious than what we’ve been dealing with at our school….

If you’re having such a hard time with it.. By all means don’t go. No one will be that disappointed to see a fan whose heart really isn’t in it, staying home.. If you no longer like IU basketball, sell you tickets for the season. Shoot I’ll buy them. Don’t put yourself out.. I’m sure the rest of us won’t miss you…

Haha these kind of comments make my day. Read the middle paragraph will you. God crap like this makes me think of the, “THIS IS SPARTA” line from 300. You think IU basketball is like a comic book made up of infallible human beings?

INUnivHoosier

I meant on his recovery.

CreamandCrimson

No need to rip the guy (especially when you don’t know the name either). It’s not Dolson or Colson…his name is Everett Golson. I’m not sure why E Foy was using him as an example because his situation was much different than anything we’re dealing with (not better or worse, just different) but the name is Golson.

CreamandCrimson

According to Justin Albers (14 hours ago)…Devin Davis “was able to stand up with assistance for first time, ate a little solid food and was moved out of ICU.”

CreamandCrimson

There’s not a timetable for his return to basketball and I don’t think there will be for quite some time.

According to Justin Albers (14 hours ago)…Devin Davis “was able to
stand up with assistance for first time, ate a little solid food and was
moved out of ICU.”

INUnivHoosier

That’s good news. Thanks.

SCHoosier

My point..he needs to go back to square one on everything..including competing for playing time. Have u actually led men..in or for anything significant? I have.Expecting/demanding personal accountability is NOT macho hot air morality. More like talkin’ the talk..but walkin’ the walk. I believe in second changes but with conditions.

SCHoosier

I’m with you Bob in that if they have any brains..Devin’s near fatal mistake may have “scared them straight.” We can hope.

SilentBob

No nothing like Davis. Davis took Bobby’s players to the final game as a surprise 5 seed with a pretty easy route (13 seed in the 2nd rd and 10 seed in elite 8). Never fielded a top seed, and once Bobby’s players left he did terrible. Me personally I’d rather the off the court problems be all at once. If it’s every now and then, then you really might have a problem with the staff and who they value in recruiting.

Outoftheloop

Great news! We love you Devin! Get well soon!

b_side

I agree the suspensions were happening sooner rather than later. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that ESPN’s Jeff Goodman broke the story (via a source close to the program) as opposed to Glass and Crean.

HoosierHuckleberry

IU won the REGULAR season B1G championship. Take that trophy to Starbucks along with $2 and you can get a cup of coffee. The team lost the B1G tournament–you know, the one which carries the automatic bid to the dance.
Using your explanation of the Syracuse loss, it can be argued that every team which loses a game in the NCAAs is the result of a terrible matchup.
We seem to have “matched up” pretty well with the team which beat Syracuse…twice. If Team I > Team M and Team M is > Team S, how can Team S be > Team I?

SilentBob

That’s exactly why I think most teams lose in every sport. It’s about 90% match ups, 10% strategic coaching. The more match up problems you create for the most teams, the better chance of success you will have.

SilentBob

Also that 10% strategic coaching is highlighted by creating better match ups, and then having the players with the skills and experience to exploit those matchups

HoosierHuckleberry

Woodson was a major benefactor of an offensive strategy, though. 2-time All American and never took a shot he didn’t like, either.

pcantidote

How about this: every player that has had an incident is now on zero tolerance. Your next incident gets you kicked off the team.

iulineman

WOW! Don’t post often but if that got removed sorry that I posted at all. Have read much worse in this thread alone. GO IU

IUMIKE1

Take that stuff with a large grain of salt. Turns out, and has been reported by more than one source, that the manager of which I believe you are referring to turns out to have quite the ax to grind when it comes to Crean.

Well I said I wasn’t sure about the spelling…lol.. But I knew it wasn’t ‘Dolson’ for sure… And I agree, I wasn’t sure why he was dragging ND into this, in a situation that really didn’t apply anyway. I guess that could be considered a ‘rip’.. Really didn’t mean it as such. But it always makes me wonder when guys get on here and bring up an example and have something so important to the argument as a name.. miss-spelled.. Oh well. most of us didn’t really like our English classes anyway. Unless, of course the teacher was a pretty, sexy young lady….

Ole Man

Well said, Ken. No one can say I’m “part of Crean’s family”, however, on this one, my sense is that you’re 100% correct.

hgdownunder

Agreed!

JD

I am saying he should be fired. Alcohol, drugs, who cares. Dude sucks at coaching basketball, which is what I do care about. This finally gives us the ammo to bring the people who fawn over Crean just because he said “It’s Indiana” at his press conference to finally come around.